Advice For RSX Owners Who Want Big Horsepower

This is going to be a little different than my other posts, so bare with me. I get a fair number of emails from RSX owners wanting to go faster. That's a fair goal, and I spend a lot of time thinking about how to go faster in my own RSX.

The short answer is yes, you can always go faster... but should you? How much do you have to spend?

The RSX as a Platform

Many RSX owners are first-time car buyers, or have been given an RSX by a family member as a first car. This is absolutely fine, but as these drivers get more comfortable, the car starts feeling slower. Maybe their friends or family has faster cars and they want to feel competitive with them, but without spending thousands of dollars on a new car.

What these car owners are missing is the experience of knowing what a good car platform is to build upon. The RSX is a fantastic car in a lot of ways. 

• The engine is relatively bulletproof, and easily swappable for a K24 or a frankensteined K20/K24 monster. 
• Arguably, the RSX is actually pretty handsome and captures that "boy racer" youthful styling.
• It can be a really fun daily driver, as the manual RSX's have some of the best feeling transmissions that you can get anywhere near this price.
• This platform is really hardy and known to last 300,000+ miles with the correct maintenance.

There's a dark side though. The RSX is basically a Honda Civic with some slightly more aggressive styling and a few luxury features. 

• Steering is basically the same as the EP3 Civic and Honda Element, and it was derived from a van. It steers absolutely awfully if you lower it any because of bad tie rod angles, and that's what most RSX owners do first.
• The transmissions in the Type-S models are vulnerable to gear grinding and pop-out, and expensive to rebuild.
• It's a front-wheel drive car. While this is awesome in the rain and snow compared to rear-wheel drive, it severly limits what you can do in a sports car. You only have so much "grip" and FWD cars use half that grip for turning, and half for applying power because it all happens in the front.
• There's no traction control to account for slipping when you apply too much power.
• Base models are relatively underpowered, and even with bolt-on modifications (exhaust, header, intake, etc.) are still going to be slow.

I could go on, but at the end of the day, the RSX is not the best platform for making big power numbers and putting it to the ground to make it actually usable. Yes, you can modify the car to make it handle big power better, but the amount that you'll spend getting there will be way more than just selling the car and buying a car that makes more power already.

Admittedly, there is a good range of power that makes sense on the RSX chassis. The cars are fine stock, but in the 2020's, we have a Toyota Camry with 311 horsepower that's faster than cop cars. I believe that the 200-300 horsepower range is an amazing spot to be, and is very attainable by base model and Type-S owners alike. Over time, normal cars make more and more power despite the speed limits remaining the same. With bolt-on mods, K-Pro, and a session with a tuner, these numbers are achievable. There's plenty of records showing "part formulas" that combine to make an average amount of horsepower. 

Note: The upper range around 300 horsepower is reserved for built engine internals and K24 blocks.

Learning How To Drive

The real secret here is learning how to drive. 99% of car owners do not know how to drive properly, and even less know how to drive a sports car in anger. Going fast in a straight line is great, but that's an easy way to get a ticket or jail time. Anyone can go fast in a straight line. 

Not everyone can truly handle their car around corners though. Once you learn that, you can squeeze out the full potential of your car, and any other car you drive for the rest of your life. Learning how to take corners and control the car in a slide could even save your life, and it costs nothing or very little to learn using the car you already have.

Looking locally for a racing school, track days, or autocross clubs are all fantastic ideas to learn this rare skill. I've been scared how fast a stock base model RSX is through turns with the right driver. Learning the basics is actually easier in a slower car because it won't let you cover up mistakes with horsepower. You truly have to learn the car and how it behaves under various forces.

If your friends like driving fast, ask them to do autocross with you. It evens the playing field against faster cars because the courses rely on quick cornering instead of high top speeds. It's a lot of fun, not expensive, and helps the grassroots motorsports movement stay alive. You're helping your community while learning how to driving fast. What more could you ask for?

So many people are looking for more and more power, but they're missing the true beauty of an Acura RSX by not knowing how to fully utilize it. 

Above All Else

If you're trying to build an RSX to be fast, it might be worth taking an introspective look at why. If you're trying to compete with friends who have much faster project cars, more expensive sports cars, or even just electric cars, there's an important lesson for you here.

There will always be someone that has a faster car than you, a bigger house, more money, more romantic attention, etc. Competing can be fun, but you'll drain yourself of money and energy chasing other's achievments. Think about what makes you happy about your car, and why you enjoy it, and focus on that.  

...But if you want to make your base model as fast as a Type-S, here you go.